Search giant Google has released its list of the top search terms of 2012 for Canada and, as usual, it’s heavy with pop-culture and celebrity references.

The late Whitney Houston topped the list, putting her on top for one (last) moment in time. She finished just ahead of Jeremy Lin, the basketball phenom that sparked linsanity with the New York Knicks before heading to Houston. Actors Michael Clarke Duncan and Morgan Freeman, along with daredevil skydiver Felix Baumgartner, rounded-out the top five.

On Google’s list of top trending searches, which profiles the fastest rising searches, photo sharing platform Pintrest came out on top, followed by Hurricane Sandy, the Olympics, Diablo 3 and everyone’s favourite South Korean pop hit, Gangham Style.

We do have some tech-related content on this list, with SOPA ranked seventh. Short for Stop Online Piracy Act, it’s proposed legislation to give U.S. law enforcement to fight the illegal online sharing of copyrighted materials and is strongly opposed by privacy advocates and some technology companies.

Jeff Jedras is a technology journalist with IT World Canada and a member of the IT Business team. He began his career in technology journalism in the late 1990s, covering the Ottawa technology sector for Silicon Valley North and the Ottawa Business Journal. He later covered the technology scene in Vancouver before joining IT World Canada in Toronto in 2005, covering enterprise IT for ComputerWorld Canada and the channel for Computer Dealer News. His writing has also appeared in the Vancouver Sun & the Ottawa Citizen.